One of the things I have learned as a pastor is that as a church grows and matures, the minister cannot assume that everybody is up to speed on something just because he “preached a sermon series” on that a little while before. It was probably more like five years before, and half the people …
Just a Little Favor?
Starting tomorrow, my debate with Christopher Hitchens is supposed to be placed in the front of all the Barnes & Noble stores around the country. I think there are about 700 hundred locations. So if you are out and about tomorrow, running errands or whatnot, could you please do me a favor? Could you just …
Neck Deep in Shoes
The last chapter of Cavanaugh’s book deals with scarcity and abundance. The juxtaposition of the two is set up (as he discusses it) in the contrast between scarcity as the driving force of free market economics, and the abundance of Christ as displayed in the Lord’s Supper. “The idea of scarcity assures that the normal …
Three Cheers for Anglicans, the Kind Who Believe the Bible
I need to pass on the word about a new theological journal — The North American Anglican. I know that a number of you probably ought to be thinking about their first issue, the table of contents for which can be found here. Some sample articles are here, and you can subscribe here. I know …
Chad Lester Starts to Circle the Drain . . .
The next chapter is up.
Vanity Fair and Globalization
Cavanaugh’s third chapter, on the global and the local, contains a lot of good discussion of the problem of the one and the many. Keying off the work of Roman Catholic Hans Urs von Balthasar, Cavanaugh offers the kind of insights that I am more accustomed to hear from Cornelius Van Til and Rousas Rushdoony. …
Hard-headed and Tender-hearted
Okay, we have seen that merciful intentions do not mean that the results actually are merciful. Being soft-hearted and soft-headed at the same time doesn’t help anybody. But of course — and here comes the point of this post — being hard-headed and hard-hearted is also a spiritual disaster. God calls us to be hard-headed …
Stupidity is not Compassionate
Just a short post to address two things at once. I have wanted to say something about the Wall Street meltdown, and I also needed to address a question raised in my last post on mercy and economics. The bottom line first. Should the taxpayers be bailing out Behemoth Banks, Leviathan Lenders, and Marduk Mortgage? …
Twin Errors
The Church of Jesus Christ is a corporate body, a covenanted reality. Together, we are the bride of Christ, organically connected to all who love Jesus Christ all over the world and throughout history. We are the Church. We are also individual Christians. And we know that, while the elect are saved, not everyone who …
Wine of Astonishment
In Psalm 60:3, the judgments of God are described as making Israel drink the “wine of astonishment.” That astonishment was the result of seeing God shake everything. God makes the earth tremble and shake, and those who observe are undone. The wine we drink here at this Table is also the wine of astonishment. The …